Today, 22nd October, double Brit Award winner Ben Howard is supporting the call of more than 55,000 surfers to better protect UK waves, oceans and beaches as he visits Downing Street to deliver Surfers Against Sewage’s Protect Our Waves (POW) petition.
Ben will also be attending a briefing event in the House of Commons sponsored by Stephen Gilbert MP, where a new economic study will reveal that surfing is worth over £1.8 billion to the UK economy, to reinforce to policy makers and MPs the need to safeguard valuable and vulnerable surfing environments & communities around the UK.
Over the past year, the Protect Our Waves petition has received tens of thousands of signatures of support, highlighting the importance of UK surfing resources to coastal communities nationwide. The petition calls for better protection for the coastal environment and those that use it. The focus of the petition is a call for amendments to legislation to better control sewage pollution, marine litter and damaging coastal developments & industry. Surfers Against Sewage believes that waves and surf spots deserve to be seen as part of UK heritage and should be afforded greater recognition and protection through debate and legislation.
The economic study produced by Surfers Against Sewage and economist Dr Mills will ensure policy makers and MPs are better informed of the value of the UK’s precious and vulnerable surfing resource before they make policy decisions that could negatively impact on coastal communities, both economically and socially. This ground breaking study is good news for the UK with the value of £1.8 billion comparable to the economic value of sailing for the UK or tourism for Cornwall.
The study also dispels the out-dated and stereotypical view of a surfer. 64% of the surfers are educated to at least an undergraduate level compared with only 27% of the general public. And 79% of surfers belong to the professional, managerial and business owning class, compared with the 54% of the general public. Surfers are not just those in their 20s, in fact surfers are well represented into their 30s, 40, 50s and beyond. These new figures show that surfers are important and influential members of coastal communities, well educated and politically engaged.
Stephen Gilbert, MP for Newquay and St Austell says: “Some of the best surfing waves in the UK are found in my constituency and surfing is a big economic driver for the area, and for Cornwall as a whole. I hope that I can help other MP’s recognise the value of natural surfing capital and the economic value in their own regions and better protect these environments and those that use them. Surfing has long since moved into the mainstream and it is important that we better manage these resources, which keep people coming back to the coast year round.”
Hugo Tagholm, SAS Chief Executive says: “We’ve been overwhelmed at the level of support for the Protect Our Waves petition with over 55,000 signatories and the backing of stars including Jack Johnson, Kelly Slater, Gabrielle Aplin and Ben Howard. Coupled with the astonishing economic data released today on the value of surfing to the UK, there is a clear case to say that surfing in sewage, walking over tidelines of trash to access a wave or developers damaging waves without consideration is simply just not acceptable. We look forward to working with MPs to deliver the solutions to better protecting surf spots for all to use safely and sustainably.”
Ben Howard says: “I’m stoked to support the Surfers Against Sewage Protect Our Waves petition. I’ve surfed all over the UK and surf spots are often jewels in the crown of the coasts and should be better protected. Why wouldn’t you protect waves and surf spots when they clearly help support so many healthy, vibrant and cool communities around our beautiful coastline.”
The petition focuses on three main issues – sewage pollution, marine litter and damaging developments & industry on the UK coastline.
There are approximately 31,000 Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) around the UK. These CSOs discharge untreated human sewage and storm water after periods of rain or when the sewerage system fails. In the 2013 bathing season, there were 549 untreated human sewage discharges from CSOs across the 250 beaches included in SAS’s Sewage Alert Service, this summer has been remarkable dry. The POW petition is calling for a reduction in CSO discharges throughout the year and improved real time public information relating to associated short-term pollution incidents.
The amount of marine litter found on UK beaches has increased by almost two-fold in the last fifteen years. A plastic bottle, if left on the beach, could persist for more than 450 years. The POW petition calls for legislation to ensure beach operates undertake at least quarterly beach cleans throughout the year, including the winter
Finally, the POW petition calls for greater protection for the UK’s surfing resource from damaging and inappropriate developments and industry, which threaten to damage or destroy surfing resources. Surfers Against Sewage has actively campaigned against harbour developments, dredging proposals, coastal defence schemes and offshore proposals that pose a significant threat to the UK’s natural surfing capital.
SAS’s new economic study reveals the average UK surfer spends £3,624 annually on surfing. This breaks down as follows; £495.21 on surfboards, wetsuits and other surfing equipment, £708.45 in local cafes and bars and £587.30 in local convenience stores, £966.27 on petrol, £222.86 on parking and £169 is spent on accommodation in the UK and £474 is spent on foreign travel. The new study also dispels the myth that surfers survive on the fringes of society. The average UK surf is well educated with 64% of respondents having an undergraduate or above qualification compared to 27% in England and Wales for the general population (ONS, 2011). This translates to a higher percentage of professional jobs amongst the UK surfing community too.

Through SAS’s extensive supporter base the survey generated 2,159 useable responses. Whilst most of the respondents were from Cornwall and Devon, as could be expected, SAS identified 11 regions with a population of more than 10,000 surfers. These surfers are not restricted to the under 30s with a significant amount of surfers in their 40s, 50s and beyond. This confirms what SAS has long since believed, that surfers are influential members of coastal communities.

Fantastic work and great piece of writing all except the manner in which the yet again the younger generation are seen as the ones who offer nothing and take most. What do we expect? We need to set examples and encouragement, not belittle and demean. These are our future graduates and business owners. We should all be seen to promote our young people. Bringing cohesiveness to the plate. So when you say;
‘The study also dispels the out-dated and stereotypical view of a surfer. 64% of the surfers are educated to at least an undergraduate level compared with only 27% of the general public. And 79% of surfers belong to the professional, managerial and business owning class, compared with the 54% of the general public. Surfers are not just those in their 20s.’
The argument ought to be that all major businesses need to invest farrrrrr better in cleaning up after themselves as well as all us general public (with a mind and a fight) doing our bit after being advised as to how best we can do this. Do not belittle our young people one bit, we owe them more than that.

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